Photocatalytic water splitting of TiO2 nanotubes powders prepared via rapid breakdown anodization sensitized with Pt, Pd and Ni nanoparticles

Abstract

The present work deals with the generation of H2 through water splitting using titania (TiO2) nanotubes (NTs) prepared via rapid breakdown anodization. The anatase TiO2 NTs sensitized with Pt, Pd and Ni nanoparticles (NPs) to investigate the efficiency of water splitting of these nanocomposites. The Pt, Pd and Ni NPs were loaded over TiO2 NTs through chemical reduction of the respective precursors. The morphology of the TiO2 NTs was observed to be produced as bundles. The metal NPs sensitized TiO2 NTs as spherical deposits. The H2 generation is larger with the addition of metal NPs and moreover lower quantity deposits produced better results. Pt NPs addition was better among the group in terms of H2 generation over the other metals of the same group. The Pt/TiO2 NTs with 5% metal sensitization generated H2 with a specific release rate of 241.8 μmol g−1 min−1.